My whole life changed when I bought an 8-inch Victorinox chef's knife -- made by the folks who make Swiss Army knives. $30 on Amazon, bought it 2 years ago, still razor sharp. It seriously changed my perception of cooking, everything was suddenly easy! Slices tomatoes like a dream. I'm really glad I didn't shell out $100 for a chef's knife because this one suits me just fine, and I cook at least 1, and usually 2 meals for 2 people every day.

I bought my boyfriend a small set of Wusthof knives, but he left them on top of the toaster oven and the handles melted so they're really uncomfortable to hold. The scissors are great, though.

My ceramic knives are my favorite. I have a 5 inch knife that I use for almost everything except things like winter squashes, which I use a 10 inch metal chef knife. I have also bought an 8 inch ceramic knife from kyocera which is nice but my little guy is my favorite. Only problem is I bought him 10 years ago and don't remember the brand. He is still sharp though.

_________________You are all a disgrace to vegans. Go f*ck yourselves, especially linanil.

I bought my boyfriend a small set of Wusthof knives, but he left them on top of the toaster oven and the handles melted so they're really uncomfortable to hold. The scissors are great, though.

Ah man that sucks.

I bought my DW a Henckel knife, heavy handle perfect for dicing and slicing and mincing and whatever else she uses it for. We got one of those sharpening steels so we can sharpen all our shitty PC knives and make them feel loved.

My next investment would probably be a Wusthof or a Japanese knife but those are in the future when my CC stops giving me the evil everytime I go near it.

I splurged on a 7" Global vegetable knife a couple years ago & couldn't be happier with it. I use it for 99% of my slicing & dicing. Later I picked up a nice paring knife & a cheap bread knife. That's really all I'll ever need besides a machete for coconuts.

I just recently bought a Pampered Chef 7" Santoku knife, I love it really. Now I didn't pay the retail for it because I hosted a party for my friend, but it slices through everything so nicely and it feels sooooo good in hand. I really do love it.

I worry about how to take care of it, because I have had a cheap Chicago Cutlery knife go competely chippers and weird on me. I know it was user error. I would love any tips.

For Christmas last year my parents bought me the Ikasu Global knife set, and they've become my most treasured possessions. They're seriously the nicest things I own in the world. The only one from the set that I don't really use is the giant chef's knife, but Boyfriend likes using it for chopping big sweet potatoes and feeling really manly about it.

They're pricey and I probably wouldn't have ever bought them for myself, but now that I have them I realise that it's totally worth it. I won't ever have to buy a knife again, I'll just get these sharpened- and it's been a year of using them daily and they haven't needed it yet. Can't speak highly enough of these things.

My whole life changed when I bought an 8-inch Victorinox chef's knife -- made by the folks who make Swiss Army knives. $30 on Amazon, bought it 2 years ago, still razor sharp. It seriously changed my perception of cooking, everything was suddenly easy! Slices tomatoes like a dream. I'm really glad I didn't shell out $100 for a chef's knife because this one suits me just fine, and I cook at least 1, and usually 2 meals for 2 people every day.

This is the first knife that I bought and I love it. It needs to be sharpened though because right now, it's sort of just smashing things rather than slicing through them. My partner bought me a really nice handmade Japanese knife. I feel kind of bad because I actually like the Victorinox knife better, but he spent so much on the Japanese one that I feel compelled to use it.

I have all Cutco knives...they are the shiitake!! And guarenteed forever so even if you break one 30 years from now, you can send it back & they replace it for free. They aren't cheap, but well worth it. (I sold them for 8 years, so I have like 40 of them in my kitchen...haha)

_________________"I'm selfish, impatient and a little insecure. I make mistakes, I am out of control and at times hard to handle. But if you can't handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don't deserve me at my best."

I had never heard of Cutco knives until just yesterday when my friend showed me the catalog.

I have an awesome set of Globals that I have been building on for a few years. Fred just added a new one to the collection back in September. I love them. He also has his own set of Henkels that I really like too.

i have a japanese verdun knife (http://en.item.rakuten.com/fbird/ovd-11/) that i got super cheap at a bed-bath-and-beyond type store because the packaging was in japanese and nobody else could read it and figure out what the hell kind of knife it was. i've had it for about 6 years and used it every blessed day and it's perfectly weighted for my hand, sharpens easily and holds the edge well, i love it to pieces.i used to have a handmade japanese carbon steel knife and let's just say: i have more scars from that knife than i do from my mandoline, and that's saying a lot. The knife was a Very Dangerous Thing to Have In Your Kitchen and I eventually had to get rid of it, it was too damn sharp. It was beautiful but scary- i almost lost my thumb to it.

What really has made a difference in my life is having my dedicated knife (when i travel, the verdun goes with me) and having a knife dedicated to my partner exclusively for Non-Vegan Things. It really helps my mental health. Ditto the dedicated cutting boards.

My husband sold Cutco knives when he was in college, so we have a full set. They are really nice and have a lifetime replacement guarantee. My favorites are the petite carver (I think), table knives and bread knife.

Joined: Wed Oct 20, 2010 5:36 pmPosts: 1692Location: the land of too much wine and wind

I have some semi-crappy Target knives that my parents gave me for christmas last year. I expressly told the boy that he is to buy me a knife this year, regardless of anything else I may say want. He has a really awesome knife, so I know he'll get me a good one. Can't wait!

_________________I just brought out the carrot sticks. This is war. - paprikapapaya

I spent an insane amount on a set of v sabatier knives after the woman in the shop told me that they were the knives to have, the ones that all the cheap brands imitated but these were the real deal frrom france blahblahblah... They felt pretty good to hold, nice and heavy, so I bought them. They are useless, but I spent so much money on them that I can't justify buying any new ones. I might take them to be properly sharpened, maybe that'll help.

I have a set of Wusthof classics. I got a starter set as a gift and have slowly been building up the set. These are the best knives I've ever used. If I could only have one of my knives, I'd pick the Santuko blade; it is so versatile.

I have a set of Cutco knives my husband bought from a friend many years ago. A lot of them are very nice, but the chef's knife is just too big and heavy for my hand. I have 5" and 7" Caphalon Santuko knives that I love. They're super sharp and fit my hand well. I got the 5" free for registering for Caphalon products and I liked it so much I went back and registered for the 7"!

Funny I was just thinking about my knife sadness this morning and how I wanted to throw it out to the PPK to be a shoulder.My Knives have always been a throw together set. I have no clue who made them maybe faberware or something. except for my Boning knife that thing is a professional one with a white handle that cuts awesome and was super cheap (last NYD I almost cut my finger off with the thing)The knives were//are great I get them sharpened once a year, use the steel on them no problems except for the santoku that thing goes dull super fast.. BUT.. My knife Block broke just fell apart so for fathers day I received a new set of Ginsu knives with a block (i only needed the block but got all the knives also)got a Chefs knife a Carver, a Paring knife what seem to be like a steak knife (all with serrated edges and the famous ginsu never needs sharpening) the set also came with a Santoku (not serrated) and Scissors. So into the drawer go my old knives out come the new one (except the boning knife since that is kinda specialized.)so six months of use later.. The santoku is awesome holds an edge if is seems a little off I hit it with the steel goes nicely through a tomato.The rest of them....The carver well... Um I have used 2-3 times Eh... the boning knife I have is betterthe paring knife and steak knife thing when I need knives of that size I go grab them. they do the trick.the Chef's knife... well.. It tears through winter squash if I am careful not to smash the blade on the cutting board but try to chop herbs with it.. no dice..Tomatos... nope Onions.. well it seems like force is doing the cutting not the blade.. They said they would replace them for 3 bucks a knife since I did not have a receipt. I use the steel on the chefs knife and it doesn't seem to do trick. maybe since it is serrated.. my dilemma is I feel bad going for my old chefs knife when my kids got me this pretty set of knives and they are nice looking and they match the kitchen..

so yeah I might say stay away from the Ginsu..problem being "they never need sharpening"

My whole life changed when I bought an 8-inch Victorinox chef's knife -- made by the folks who make Swiss Army knives. $30 on Amazon, bought it 2 years ago, still razor sharp. It seriously changed my perception of cooking, everything was suddenly easy! Slices tomatoes like a dream. I'm really glad I didn't shell out $100 for a chef's knife because this one suits me just fine, and I cook at least 1, and usually 2 meals for 2 people every day.

I have a Victorinox chef's knife and paring knife and they are awesome. Perfect weight, perfect slicing.

_________________my roommate spilled tuna juice on the bathroom floor while he was eating on the toilet! should i bleach the floor or just tear up the tile? - acrVegan Coloradical

This thread could help me out a lot. I grew up in two households (divorced parents) who both, for some strange reason, refused to buy nice cooking tools such as knives. I had to chop veggies with a small serrated knife. No joke! So last summer I picked up a random knife from IKEA because I didn't have money for anything else, and that's all I have. I still probably won't have enough money for a knife set until next summer, but I'd loooove to splurge and invest in something nice.

I think my husband picked calphalon knives. Having decent knives has made cooking awesome, definitely save up and pick our a decent knife you like. And if you can, try it out in the store before you buy it to make sure it feels good to you. That's all the advice I have.

My whole life changed when I bought an 8-inch Victorinox chef's knife -- made by the folks who make Swiss Army knives. $30 on Amazon, bought it 2 years ago, still razor sharp. It seriously changed my perception of cooking, everything was suddenly easy! Slices tomatoes like a dream. I'm really glad I didn't shell out $100 for a chef's knife because this one suits me just fine, and I cook at least 1, and usually 2 meals for 2 people every day.

Yeah, these were rated the best buy by Cooks Illustrated, who tested them against the $200-300 knives. I have to agree - I think they're great and an excellent value. They're good knives and when I took one to a co-op cooking knife skills class, the instructor said they're very common in restaurant kitchens. They are lighter-weight, though, so you can't just whack a clove of garlic using the weight of the knife, for example. If you're hard up for money but need a decent cooking knife, buy one of these.